Well-established calf-rearing regime

Ensuring that the calving season runs smoothly for the mutual benefit of the family as well as the animals is a priority, Laura said. In what is a particularly stressful and tiring period, minimising disease and avoiding any additional hardship and work is critical.

Working in advance

The work, as Laura describes it, begins as soon as the previous season ends with all calf sheds cleaned out, power-washed, and disinfected as soon as the last calf vacates the facilities. Housing disinfection is repeated before calving begins. An overall health plan is established in conjunction with the Hannon’s vet at the start of the year, encompassing a look back at any hiccups from the previous season as well as developing and reinforcing preventative health protocols for the time ahead. The Hannon herd is given a scour vaccine prior to calving and, in addition, a plan of action in the event of an outbreak of scour is developed, with sufficient flexibility to cater for different types of scour that may occur.

A practical approach

Laura acknowledged that that the calf shedson the Hannon farm are not new, purpose-built facilities. Nevertheless,

theyhave been renovated and extended over time to be made fit for purpose. The replacement heifer calves are housed in indoor silage pits that have been set up to accommodate automated calf feeding, with high hygiene standards to compensate for any rough surfaces and other potential bacterial havens. The calving shed has 13 individual pens, well capable of coping with high throughput, which peaks in February when 250 of the herd are scheduled to calve. Despite the absence of a night calver, there have been no issues with night-time calvings. This may be reflective of the fact that care is taken in breeding the cows to easy-calving bulls. The biggest challenge is to ensure the calves receive adequate colostrum in the optimum timescale. The calves are blood-tested annually to establish immunoglobulin levels and to ensure that the calf/colostrum feeding management is providing adequate colostrum immunity levels to the calves.

Johne’s disease prevention

Prevention, as far as possible, is the strategy regarding Johne’s. With cows calved in individual pens, risk is minimised. Furthermore, regular testing takes place to confirm absence of the disease in the herd. Any suspects are managed individually to minimise contact around calving and are bred to non-dairy bulls.
Right along the course of the calving season, the emphasis is on high hygiene standards. All interactions with calves are managed to that end. Footbaths are placed outside calving pens. Calving pens are bedded daily or twice a day when under pressure, with calf pens bedded every other day. The simple ‘knee test’ is used to always ensure a dry lie for the calves. All of the  10-teat calf feeders are rinsed and drained after each feed and intensively washed once per week and dipped into a peracetic solution.

Minimising disease vectors

Heifer and bull/beef calves are reared separately to minimise disease risk from buyers entering the farm to purchase calves. Fresh waterproofs are introduced at the start of the season and replaced as necessary. Gloves are always worn for all calf handling and feeding operations. Labour division to prevent cross contamination between cows and calves, for instance, is practised as far as possible and practical. That normally means one person staying in the milking parlour, one person feeding the older calves and one person dealing with the newborn calves.

Colostrum feeding

The well-stated early colostrum feeding principles are followed on the Hannon farm with three litres of colostrum fed in the hours after birth. With large numbers of cows calving in a short time period, milk pooling is practised, and the pooled colostrum tested with a refractometer to ensure high quality.
There is a vaccination programme in place, reflecting the ‘prevention before infection’ principle. Calf stress is kept as low as possible across the various calf management practices, from dehorning to feeding and general handling. Consistency and regularity are high priorities, whether that is regarding the individual managing the calves or in the feeding and bedding operations. 
Last year, the Hannons introduced an automatic calf feeder to the calf-rearing regime, which is regularly calibrated, and it has worked well, Laura confirmed. Again, high hygiene standards are practised with regular washing and teats replaced regularly and washed daily to prevent scours ands bloat.

Post-weaning protocols

After the calves are weaned, they continue to receive a small meal input, which, along with the nutritional benefit, has the additional purpose of making it easier to identify any off-form calf. For the grazing season, a leader-follower system is practised. Calves are weighed every four-to-six weeks to ensure all are thriving. Calf weights are compared to the EBI maintenance figure on the HerdApp and that provides a comprehensive view of individual calf performance. There are two calf groups, to allow more TLC for those below growth and weight targets.
Animal Health Ireland has been running a Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH) programme for several years and the Hannons are participants. This has delivered cost savings in reducing the number of doses required. Last year, no worm dose was applied until September, based on regular dung sampling to assess the level of worm burden. Coccidiosis treatment was avoided entirely, again based on dung sample analysis.
Scour is an annual challenge in some calves on the farm in April time and the Hannons first identify the scour type with a rainbow test and then adopt the appropriate treatment regime and medication. At all times, efforts are made to prevent disease rather than having to cure it. As one example, lush after-grass is generally avoided because of the low levels of fibre in the forage, which could be sub-optimal for the developing rumen in the young, weaned calf.
In conclusion, while there is nothing spectacular about the Hannon calf-rearing regime, it is a prime example of the positive impact of maintaining high standards and management practices across a range of well-established protocols.